attack · recognise → explain → apply

Create a central passer in the middlegame

A central exchange can leave an advanced pawn without an opposing pawn blocker.

Explanation styleChoose any style. Age is not playing strength; no birth date is needed.

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Mikhail Botvinnik – Jose Raul Capablanca

AVRO, Rotterdam · 1938.11.22 · 1-0

26... Rxe6 · White to move

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What to notice at 26... Rxe6

After 26...Rxe6, Botvinnik recaptured 27.fxe6. The e-pawn then constrained Black and became part of the queen-and-knight attacking geometry.

A legally replayed historical example, not a claim that every move is best. A game’s result does not prove every defensive position was lost or drawn.

Game source ↗

Your thinking first

Name the signal, choose a plan, and test the opponent’s most challenging response.

What do you notice?What is your plan, and why?How could the opponent resist?

Recall and explain

1. A central exchange can leave an advanced pawn without an opposing pawn blocker. How would you apply “create a central passer in the middlegame”, and which defensive reply must you check?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

Make it memorable

A passer also controls, not only runs.

Teach this to a friend in one minute. Then return to a different example and look for the same signal without being told its name.

Reflect and revisit

This is your self-assessment, not an engine grade or a promise of mastery.

Connect the ideas

Practise pawn transformations →

Sources and further reading

Original LumaChess teaching and game analysis. Topic references are credited below; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.